kmandrew

Please check my logic, we want to do OMA-SYD-AKL-OMA leaving around 12/22 spend around 5/6 days in each city. AA agent said a saver award ticket is 125k in J but does not allow a stopover in SYD so I would have to book an open jaw OMA-SYD AKL-OMA and pay my way from SYD-AKL. Milage calculator puts the trip at 18,000 miles so could I spend 130k for the trip on this program? I was in a bit of a hurry so didn't give her a lot of time but she couldn't find any inventory around those dates for SaverMiles; once you guys comment on my logic I'll call the RTW desk.

guv1976

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What would your segment-by-segment routing be? There are no direct flights between OMA and SYD (or between AKL and OMA) so you would have to count the mileage of all flights, including connecting ones. And you need to use at least two of AA's oneworld partners (like QF and LA) to qualify for a oneworld award.

Of course, you could always get a separate SYD-AKL award on QF for 10K AA miles in Coach, or 17.5K AA miles in Business.

kmandrew

That's why I come here, you are right. Agent was trying Omaha-DFW-LAX then pick up Cathay Pacific; return on the SYD-DFW then DFW-OMA but I think this would push me well over 20,000 miles. and make your suggestion of a normal saver award plus 10k for SYD-AWK the best choice.

I have around 600k AA miles, I'm so tempted to go ahead and try to go from SYD on to Perth then to London, do my 4 European stops and fly home from Paris. I assume this would jump me to 35-50k catagory and run 220k miles plus from a weather stand point delay the trip to April/May 2013. I also have around 950k Hilton points so I could do 3 145k AXON's (London/Paris/Sydney) and 4 119k AXONS (Prague/Budapest/New Zealand/Istanbul); spend 28 nights in 7 great cities basically for free. Sometimes it seems almost worth it to spend 100/n yr in hotels. This thread is great probably spent 4 hours learning stuff.

guv1976

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How about OMA-DFW-LAX (AA); LAX-SYD (QF); SYD-AKL (LA); AKL-LAX (QF); and then home on AA, via either DFW or ORD?

brlee

Hi all,
I just wanted to share my experience booking my oneworld-award trip using AA miles. Thanks to the vast information posted here on this thread, I was able to book it without many hiccups.

This was the trip I booked and ticketed last September for a trip in April:

SFO - HKG(stop) - BKK(stop) - HKG(connection) - ICN(stop) - HND(stop) - SFO

All in business class on CX and JAL. It cost 130000 AA miles and ~$140 for taxes and reservation fee. The whole process went smoothly.^

In December, I decided to include a short trip to Shanghai and I was willing to pay the $150 fee (as opposed to a separate ~$400 RT tickets for HKG-PVG).

My new itinerary would be:
SFO - HKG(stop) - PVG(stop) - HKG(connection) - BKK(stop) - HKG(connection) - ICN(stop) - HND(stop) - SFO

Despite the first agent telling me my itinerary was not possible b/c of the stopover and connection in HKG, everything eventually got booked and ticketed. The best part was that they never charged me for the $150 fee (well at least, not as of yet), even though they did remind me of the fee and the refund and new taxes having been processed. Score (maybe?)!

Further, after my new schedule was ticketed, I was able to change a connecting flight through HKG so that the layover would be ~12hrs, exceeding the guideline of 6hrs, despite flights (that would satisfy the connection rule [under 6hrs]) being available.

One note: as I was tweaking my PVG-(HKG)-BKK flights, I thought that since KA is an affiliate of CX, I should be able to change my CX flight to a KA flight that had a preferable schedule. I was told that I would have to stick with CX.

In summary:
-I changed my ticketed itinerary to include PVG without being charged the $150 fee and only paying the difference in taxes which was ~$10.
-I was able to extend my layover to ~12hrs (enough time for a quick trip into the city).
-CX and KA (or any other airlines that have an affiliation) are still different airlines and you cannot change your flight to an affiliate once ticketed.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to this forum that made my upcoming trip possible.^

ilovetofly

You got lucky with the $150 and change layover to 12 hours. My understanding is that there is no change fee as making routing change/carrier is not permitted. What AA would do is to reinstate the miles and re-issue the ticket, hence the $150 fee.

brlee

Yes, you are correct and that is exactly what they did, reinstate the miles and re-issue the ticket.

I certainly am not complaining.

Jwerking

Yes, one hour is going to stress me out. Any delay in leaving ICN will definitely create issues - no room for any delays. Luckily, it is a 8:00 am flight before delays start to snowball.

I am just going to leave the original itinerary - hopefully 1:45 hrs is enough - as hanging out until 4:55 pm is a long time. If we miss the earlier flight, hopefully we can make the the 4:55 pm anyway - since it is early Dec and a Tuesday - not a heavy travel day.

I could not find 2 seats thru SCL - but was able to find a return on Jan 2, 2013 on Cathay Pacific from AKL - HKG- JFK. I have placed a special request for the leg from JFK to DCA and am waiting. If not, no big deal - it will be my only open jaw and the airfare back to DCA is about $100.

Thank you again Austinrunner and Guv1976 - you GUYS are the best!

Joyce

guv1976

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Joyce, AA will not let you ticket a oneworld itinerary that ends at JFK if you have a prior transit (either connection or stopover) in NYC. Remember that no connections or stopovers are permitted at either the first or the last city on a oneworld award itinerary.

kmandrew

Comes in at 19500 miles, perfect, I'll check availability tomorrow. I assume I could try to get the DFW-SYD and skip LAX on the way out, I think it leaves at 10 pm.

JDiver

If your post appears to be missing but is only for AA or Aa and AA partners, please follow to this thread. /Moderator

Jwerking

I don't understand and hope I have not screwed myself - since my 5-day hold is only thru tomorrow - Saturday. But the rep that did this reschedule for me last night seem to be very knowledgeable and she did not seem to have a problem. So here is my itinerary now:

IAD-DFW-ICN-NRT-JFK (stopover)-HND-KIX-GMP-KIX-BKK-SYD-AKL-HKG-JFK

So I am not allowed to end in JFK?? Will AA stop this itinerary when I try to book it?? Let's hope they approve the special request for the JFK to DCA leg and I will be saved.

Since their rep made the error - okay, it was partially my fault - will they work with me to get me an acceptable return or extend the 5-day hold? Should I ask to speak to a supervisor? And how is it that I should be - firm but polite! Man - I am bummed right now but have my fingers crossed that AA will work with me on this.

Okay - I just checked ITA and found that CP flies direct from HKG to ORD. This would be acceptable and work out well as I can go visit my other daughter in Milwaukee and just pay to get myself back to DCA. So now I feel a little better!

Joyce

Jwerking

Okay - it is very frustrating trying to book my return from AKL to IAD without any saver award seats in the US. I am surprised that they have not released any for early January 2013 yet. I have not tried to book an AA award trip for a very long time - been saving my miles for the RTW ticket - thus, not aware of AA's time frame for releasing award seats. Is this typical or is this only because we are still dealing with the Xmas/New Years period? Does AA now not release saver seats at the 330 day window period ever and just wait until whenever? Hope it does not have anything to do with their bankruptcy.

Sorry, I had to vent. This is probably not the forum to ask these questions - forgive me, I will try to be a good girl !

Joyce

Austinrunner

It's perfectly OK to ask those questions!

(1) If AA initially refuses your request for JFK -> IAD availability, ask the agent to "appeal." It's important to use exactly that word.

(2) AA releases award inventory not earlier than 330 days in advance. AA does not necessarily release inventory at exactly the 330 day mark. It could happen on that day or any future date. It's entirely unpredictable.

(3) guv1976 is correct that you cannot end your itinerary in JFK because you have a stopover there earlier in the itinerary. The ticketing department is very likely to reject your itinerary, regardless of what the agent said or did.

(4) It's worth asking AA to extend the hold given that your JFK -> IAD request is pending. No guarantee, however, that AA will do so.

(5) Cathay Pacific also flies non-stop from Hong Kong to Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (plus Chicago and JFK). If you can't find availability to any of those cities, ask the agent about:
HKG -> Peking or Shanghai (CX or Dragon Air) -> ORD (AA)

(6) If worst comes to worst, you easily have enough unused flight miles to get home the long way: AKL -> HKG (CX) -> LHR (CX) -> IAD (BA). I know that would be incredibly onerous (and you'd have to pay BA's fuel surcharge for the last leg), but it's good to have the option.

(7) How did you determine that there was no availability through SCL? LAN flies AKL -> SCL nonstop. QF flies AKL -> SYD -> SCL.

Jwerking

I must be living life correctly as I am now scheduled on AA 4543 on January 3, 2013 from JKF to DCA from 10:55 AM to 12:15 PM.

However, my CX 846 from HKG- JFK is January 2 from 6:30 PM- 9:25 PM. There are no other flights to DCA that evening due to the late arrival - so I must overnight in JFK. Does this create a stopover - as I have already stopover here previously in my itinerary - so cannot do so again??? FYI - there is an earlier 6 am flight from JFK- DCA if that makes a difference.

Please say it is okay to take the flight the next day !

Joyce